


an important job

by gviceroy



Category: Metalocalypse
Genre: Gen, Mental Illness, Pills, Schizophrenia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-12
Updated: 2014-12-12
Packaged: 2018-03-01 03:34:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2758037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gviceroy/pseuds/gviceroy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>seth has an important job to do</p>
            </blockquote>





	an important job

**Author's Note:**

> i'm writing this from experience so please don't come and white knight me in the name of mental illness, i'm literally mentally ill and there's no need to do that, thanks
> 
> i mostly wrote this to vent but if you like it too then hey thats great

Seth stared blearily at the box in his hand, squinting in the light of the medicine cabinet. The packaging had a pretty design, an ironic welcoming warmth that the generic stuff didn't usually have. No, the brand name stuff was _important_ , wanted to make you feel good and _so smart_ for spending the extra cash on it. A white and yellow box with little green arrows, friendly and nonthreatening. He fucking hated it.

He pulled out the box's table, wrinkled with repeated use over the month. He slid out the blister pack. Only a week's left of doses... Magnus would have to buy more soon, though, he probably already got a courtesy alert about it. Seth felt a little bad about wasting Magnus' money. Well, not _that_ badly. But he knew he'd get in trouble if he told the man that he didn't need to take the pills anymore. He was cured, or more accurately, he realized he was never sick to begin with. He'd tell Magnus eventually, but first Seth had to finish his task.

He peeled back the foil and took out one of the pills. They told him that flushing it would be too obvious, that Magnus would hear it, and they were right...he was supposed to get rid of it somehow, Magnus would check later that night, he _always_ checked. Seth filled his little dixie cup with water, and dropped the pill in it. He waited, scratching at his arm, mentally timing how long it usually took him to take the pill, if he stayed in the bathroom any longer or any shorter it might become suspicious, they had warned him last week when he started doing this. As soon as he figured it had been long enough he dumped the mix down the sink, and left the bathroom.

Magnus looked up from his book as soon as Seth stepped out. "Took your pill?" he asked, in a friendly sort of tone, but Seth knew better. Seth knew that Magnus was making sure he didn't try and weasel his way out of his medication, which was doing nothing but clouding his senses and distracting him away from his true goal. Seth gave a forced little closed-mouth smile and nodded. He must've passed the test given to him, because Magnus looked back down at his book. Seth hurried over to the couch, sitting on the end opposite Magnus, taking up as little space as possible and making himself small and unnoticeable.

"Did you want to get dinner?"

Seth jerked, looking around wildly and eyes settling on Magnus. Where was his book? He glanced at the clock. It was an hour later than Seth had sat down. Fuck, he was losing time already...? They were coming to take him sooner than he thought. He realized Magnus was still staring at him, and he tried to not look as nervous as he felt. "What?"

"I asked if you wanted to get dinner." Magnus frowned. Was Seth acting obvious? It felt like he was acting obvious. What did people do in these situations again? Smile, Seth, smile. He gave that closed mouth smile again. But really, his mind was screaming at him for being an idiot. He was acting too suspiciously, and now Magnus was going to try and forcibly medicate him, sneak it into his food... His superiors would be furiated with him if that happened. You have one job, Seth, don't fuck it up.

Seth shook his head slowly. "No, thank you. Not hungry." He tried to talk on his own, but it was like someone else was speaking for him, the words came out of his mouth but he didn't remember saying them, just hearing them. Ugh, he hated control chips. He could have done it just fine on his own. Magnus gave him an odd look. Odd, because Seth couldn't place the emotion. He forgot what people's faces looked like. Sad? Angry? Didn't matter. The end result was going to be the same.

"You haven't eaten all day." Was that a question? An accusation?

Seth shrugged. _Please eat,_ his body grumbled at him, but he ignored it. He didn't want to get air sickness when they came to pick him up, that would make him look like such an idiot in front of so many important people, and he had to make sure everything was right when the time came.

"I'll...make something for myself, then, I guess...I'll leave a plate in the microwave for you in case you change your mind."

Seth wouldn't, but he appreciated the gesture. He wish he could tell Magnus that, before he left. Magnus was taking such good care of him, he wasn't such a bad guy at all, not like people usually thought of him. It was Seth's power that had allowed him to see that he was good, back when they started going together. His power had faded a while ago, but he'd get new powers to test drive. He wondered if he'd have to file paperwork for it...

When Magnus was in the kitchen, he threw on a light jacket. Even though it was a very cold winter outside, he wouldn't be exposed for very long. He pulled on his sneakers and his hat, and snuck over to the door. Magnus would be able to see their front door from the kitchen, but the man's view was currently blocked by the open fridge door. Seth very carefully, very slowly turned the door knob and slipped out of the apartment, closing the door behind him just as quietly.

Seth rocked back and forth impatiently as he watched each floor light up as the elevator passed them. Surely they wouldn't mind if he was a little late? Top secret shit like this seems exactly the kind of thing you wanna wait until its nice and dark and dead outside for. What were they gonna do, fire him? Seth almost laughed. Who else would agree to all this testing bullshit, all this...crazy super secret government shit that they'd been making him do for a year now? Unless they found someone else...unless they decided to kill him because he'd been late one too many times. A cold fear washed over him, sobering him up and making him go still.

He stepped outside into the cold air, shaking as the snow crunched between his toes. "Ho...hoooly fuck..." Didn't...didn't he pull on his sneakers? Seth looked down at his bare feet. The skin was bright red from the sudden exposure to the snow outside. He shook his head and winced with every step. He couldn't afford to waste time going back up to get his shoes, besides, he'd just warm them up in the limo when it got there.

He hobbled over to the nearest street light and sat down under it, crossing his legs and resting his feet up on them, the snow soaking into his clothing and making him wet and colder. He ignored it the best he could. Seth would no doubt get some kind of punishment for not walking far enough away from his apartment for them to pick him up without being seen as 'suspicious' but come on, give a guy a break. He didn't have any shoes and it was fucking snowing outside. He wasn't gonna go walking 2 blocks like this. It'd be fine.

Seth rested against the cold metal base of the pole, closing his eyes. It was unbearably cold, sapping the heat right from him, but he needed to rest against something so badly.

Someone was touching his shoulder. "Seth?" His eyes opened, body jerking at the sudden jolt awake. How long had he been asleep? Long enough for the cold to seep into every joint, to make it painful to move. With a wince, he craned his head up to see who was towering above him, blocking out the light.

Magnus. And he had that look on his face. Seth hated that look. He stared at the ground.

Magnus sighed, turning away from Seth for a moment, rubbing his face with his hands, exhaling slowly. He faced Seth again, and held out his hand. "Come on, then." After a moment of silence, Seth took Magnus' hand, and he helped pull the shorter to his feet. "Let's go inside."

"I can't," Seth grumbled, wrapping his arms around himself. "They'll be here any minute."

"Then...let's wait in the lobby, at least."

Seth was then the one to rub his face, frustrated with the entire situation. He was trying to avoid this, avoid Magnus trying to stop him and guilt him over this. "Fine...since I don't have any shoes anyway."

In the lobby, he rested against Magnus as well as he could with the chair armrests separating them. In spite of the uncomfortable chairs designed to prevent the very thing, Seth ended up falling asleep again while Magnus flipped through a magazine. It took him a few minutes to notice. Magnus sighed and put the magazine down, carefully standing up so as not to disturb him, grunting under his breath as he lifted Seth up bridal style.

Magnus carried him to the elevator, back up to their floor. To their apartment, to their bedroom. He tucked Seth into bed gently, then he left the room to go looking for the business card the doctor had given him months ago.

Nobody ever showed up at the streetlight for Seth.


End file.
